Batesville, a leading provider of high quality products and innovative technology solutions to funeral homes, is adding two new features to its Web Pro website platform to make it easier for people to express support through online memorial donations and funeral funding. The company is partnering with My Tribute Gift Foundation, an established nonprofit organization that is well recognized in the funeral industry and respected by charitable organizations.

“Today’s funeral home websites serve as a command center for information and activities related to a loved one’s passing, including expressions of support and sympathy,” said Troy Turner, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Batesville. “Through our partnership with My Tribute Gift Foundation, we are able to provide a secure, convenient way for consumers to make donations to a designated charity or contribute directly to a family’s funeral expenses.”

This integration provides benefits to families and funeral directors, including:

A direct way to engage with remote family and friends

Improved compliance with the deceased’s wishes

More convenience for people making donations

Greater transparency and recordkeeping for donations

Reduced administration in facilitating donations

“We share Batesville’s commitment to helping families and are honored to partner with them in bringing My Tribute Gift donation and funding offerings to consumers across the U.S. and Canada,” said Sam Baxter, managing director of My Tribute Gift Foundation.

Memorial donations are not new. It is quite common for a family to designate a charitable organization to receive donations in honor of their loved one. But until recently, individuals were left to follow-up by mailing in a check and then wait to receive a confirmation from the organization. Funeral directors often found themselves in the middle, tracking down contact information for specific charities before the service and responding to calls from members of the community weeks later to verify where to send donations.

“Technology has changed that,” explains Turner. “Using digital connections that are familiar and comfortable for today’s consumers, the funeral home can facilitate the entire donation process through a simple integration that is already built into their website – without having to take on added responsibilities,” said Turner.

Similar to other expressions of sympathy – cards, flowers and guest books – the option to make a memorial donation or contribute funds to help cover funeral expenses is presented with the obituary or service information. Both features can be activated by the funeral director on a case-by-case basis,
according to the family’s preferences. All collections, credit card authorizations, acknowledgements, and financial reports are handled by My Tribute Gift, with no involvement by the funeral home.

While crowdfunding has become a popular way for people to rally around an individual or family in times of crisis, there have been concerns about the legitimacy of requests, who the money is going to and how it’s being used. Turner said Batesville paid close attention to the challenges funeral directors and families experienced with early applications and used those insights to help guide its offering.

“Our solution has a singular focus – providing a dignified solution for friends and family members to make financial donations to help offset the family’s funeral expenses, when that support is needed,” explains Turner, “and a seamless transfer of funds to the funeral home when that process is complete.”

For example, each campaign has a target that is set by the funeral director and the family based on the actual cost of the funeral. The campaign automatically closes once that target is achieved, and funds are transferred directly by My Tribute Gift to the funeral home as payment. This gives donors and funeral directors absolute assurance that their contributions will go toward the funeral expenses.

The memorial donations feature was added to Batesville Web Pro websites in July, and funeral funding will launch in August. Both features are provided at no additional charge to Batesville website customers.

For more information or a tutorial on how to use these features, call the Batesville Technology Solutions team at 877.287.8661 or send an email to Technology.Sales@Batesville.com.

ABOUT BATESVILLE
Batesville (www.Batesville.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI), is the leader in the death care industry in North America, offering a comprehensive portfolio of Burial Solutions, Cremation Options, Memorial Solutions and Technology Solutions. For more than 125 years, Batesville has been dedicated to helping families honor the lives of those they love.® Batesville’s innovation has changed the face of funeral service, from advancements in manufacturing and quality to patented features and memorialization offerings, technology and web-based solutions, and profit-enhancing merchandising systems. Our history of manufacturing excellence, product innovation, superior customer service and reliable delivery has helped Batesville become – and remain – a market leader.

ABOUT MY TRIBUTE GIFT FOUNDATION
My Tribute Gift Foundation helps the world make donations honouring the memory of loved ones by enabling contributions to worthy causes that are making the world a better place. My Tribute Gift Foundation assists registered nonprofit organizations operating both locally and internationally.
To the donor, we represent a secure, simple and efficient way to give in memory of a loved one. To the charities, we represent a significant “widening of the net.” For smaller nonprofits, this sometimes provides their only online opportunity for giving. For larger organizations we facilitate them reaching millions of donors motivated to make a difference in memory of their loved one.